12/10/00

Well, it turns out that the half-marathon I was thinking of running actually does exist, so I signed up for it yesterday. I've been running 10 miles for my weekly long runs, so adding on another three miles in the next 6 weeks shouldn't be too terribly painful, but I still feel a little bit nervous about the whole thing. I think my brain just hasn't quite caught up with my body's increased capabilities.

On Thursday, when I was running in the park, I saw a one-legged man walking a three-legged dog. The man was missing his right leg, and the dog was missing his right front leg. They both seemed pretty agile, though. I was telling this to my dad this morning and he told me that there used to be a 2-legged dog in Amherst. He had two right legs and was apparently able to hop around on them just fine.

When I last wrote, I was getting ready to go to a local political debate. It ended up being a very interesting event. Matt Gonzalez, the guy I voted for in the main election, clearly won the debate in my eyes. His opponent showed up 15 minutes late and seemed unaware of the format and largely unprepared to discuss any of the issues. The most interesting part of the debate, though, was not the candidates, but rather the audience. At the beginning, the moderator asked that there be no reaction or commentary from the audience, but this request was wholly ignored. The crowd frequently broke into applause, yelled out questions, and yelled at each other. It was all very entertaining.

This weekend has been pretty quiet. On Friday night, I helped Alvin, who was puppy-sitting for a friend, and hadn't realized how much work puppies are when he took on the job. When he arrived at his friends' apartment, he let the puppy out of her crate, and she immediately urinated on the rug just outside the crate. I cleaned up the mess and he took the puppy for a walk. These people also have an older dog and an iguana, and they live in a one-bedroom apartment. I mean, puppies are cute and all, but I just don't see the appeal of living with all those animals in an apartment that's all smelly and chewed-up with hair all over the place. It would drive me crazy.

On Saturday, I went downtown and ran some errands. Among other things, I picked up an issue of Runner's World magazine. I started reading the magazine on the train ride home, and when I opened it up, the first thing I saw was a picture of my sister, along with some Runner's World staffers, watching the Olympics on TV at some bar in New York. It wasn't so surprising, because my sister's boyfriend (who was also in the picture) works for Runner's World. Still it's strange to buy a magazine and then open it up and see someone you know. If you care, the picture is on page 10 of the January 2001 issue, and my sister is on the far right side of the picture.

This afternoon, one of the guys in my lab had a party because his wife just had a baby a few weeks ago. The party was supposed to start at noon, but when I showed up at 12:30, I was the first person there. The next guest didn't arrive until 1, and most people were there closer to 2 p.m. Actually, the last time I went to a lab party, the exact same thing happened, so I guess I should have caught on by now that everybody in my lab shows up to parties two hours late. The host was still busy cooking when I arrived, so I tried to entertain myself by talking to his 6-year-old son. Unfortunately, the boy decided that he was only going to talk to me in his own made-up language, so the conversation was somewhat difficult. At first, I thought it was because he didn't like me, but he later showed his affection for me by pelting me with paper airplanes and sticking small plastic sticks underneath my watchband. I guess he's just kind of a weird kid.

The forum: Are you good with kids?